1814 Campaign in France
.]] During the War of the Sixth Coalition, there was an 1814 campaign in France. Prelude Background After having been cornered at Leipzig by the combined might of the European powers, Napoleon had suffered a crushing defeat at the so called 'Battle of the Nations' during the autumn of 1813 and had been forced to withdraw his battered army back across the Rhine and abandon his bid to retain control of Germany. Now, with the allies amassing their forces on the Rhine, poised to invade the last stronghold of his Empire, France itself, Napoleon took stock of his reduced circumstances and was not found wanting... There were those, both within and without France, who said that the writing was on the wall, but they had not reckoned on the formidable will of Napoleon, who ever the supreme optimist, was determined that he would not be subdued without a fight. With the bulk of his experienced troops either tied up fighting the Duke of Wellington in Southern France or else locked up in garrisons within Germany, the Netherlands and the border fortresses of France, Napoleon was only able to scrape trogether some 80,000 hastily trained conscripts, christened the Marie Louises to oppose the onslaught of the more than 350,000 seasoned troops that the allies could field. Despite the overwhelming numbers of the allies, Napoleon appeared undaunted by the titanic task which lay before him and still confident of his abilities for he was able to write to Marshal Marmont in mid November to say "At the present we are not in a position to do anything, but by the first fortnight in January we shall be in a position to achieve a great deal." Pre-campaign However, when the allies offered peace based upon the natural boundaries of France, the Rhine, the Alps and the Pyrenees in mid-November, Napoleon appeared to pause for thought, but was then subsequently informed by the allies that peace could only be made upon the basis of the 'frontiers of 1792.' Not surprisingly, and perhaps as the allies foresaw, Napoleon rejected the terms, informing his minister of foreign affairs Caulaincourt negotiating on his behalf that "I think it is doubtful whether the allies are in good faith, or that England wants peace... I certainly desire it, but it must be long lasting and honourable. The allies wish to reduce France to a state by which she can no longer take her place amonst the powers of Europe. I will neither degrade France nor myself by accepting such dishonourable terms." But there were some in the government legislative assembly who derided Napoleon, particularly Joseph Laine who issued an adress in which he attacked Napoleon's ruinous policies. The Emperor, said Laine, should make peace for France and himself on any terms he could get. Napoleon, furious, flared up and spoke severely to its members: "It is I who can save France and not you... Your commission has humiliated me more than my enemies. It adds irony to insult. It states that adversity is the true councillor of kings. That may be so, but to apply it to me in the present circumstances is an act of cowardice." Heedless of his detractors, Napoleon also had cause for hope because he knew through Caulaincourt that the allies yet contained divisions within their ranks which might be exploited. The Tsar Alexander thought only of avenging Moscow and dictating peace terms within a humbled Paris. Blucher followed much the same line, burning with a desire born of hatred to avenge the humiliating defeat of Prussia in 1806. Yet, Blucher's sovereign, King Frederick William III of Prussia, was wary of giving Napoleon a chance to recoup his fortunes on the battlefield and win back all he had lost. As for the Austrians, both Metternich and Emperor Francis II harboured a wish to retain Napoleon upon the throne to help preserve the balance of power in Europe from a looming Russia whom they feared might swallow Poland and Prussia who might snatch Saxony. Britain too wished to preserve the balance of power if at all possible. With this in mind, Napoleon reasoned that the tenuous alliance might well fall apart on its own accord, and if not. A series of stunning victories over the allies on French soil might compell them to lay down their arms and allow him to dictate a peace on his own terms. Campaign With proclamations that they came as liberators, their only enemy being Napoleon, the allies with some trepidation for they still feared Napoleon's prowess on the field of battle, crossed the Rhine in late December, brushing aside the light forces of Marshal Marmont and Marshal Victor with relative ease they planned a three pronged offensive against the French Emperor: Schwarzenberg commanding the Army of Bohemia with 210,000 Austrian's from the Upper Rhine, Bernadotte with 60,000 from the Netherlands and Blucher leading the 75,000 strong Prussian/Russian Silesian Army army advancing from Lorraine, all converging on Paris. And if that was not enough, The Duke of Wellington threatened the South of France where Marshal Soult was holding the line. "Have faith, do I not know my trade anymore?" ''With these words to his fearful Empress Marie Louise and his stepdaughter Hortense, Napoleon prepared to leave for the front to join his army, hoping to meet the multiple spearheads of the allied advance on Paris and defeat them in detail as of old. Napoleon Is Checked Napoleon vowed that he must seize the initiative first to throw the allies of balance as they plunged through the Frech countryside towards Paris, and so in his first action of his 'Defence of the Patrie,' Napoleon pounced on Blucher's dispersed 25,000 men with 30,000 of his own on the 29th of January 1814, determined to crush the seventy one year old Prussian war horse before he could be joined by Schwarzenberg's Army of Bohemia. At the Battle of Brienne where he had been a schoolboy 30 years before, Napoleon forced Blucher to retreat after fierce house to house fighting; an action in which Marshal Ney distinguished himself. With Blucher suffering some 4,000 casualties and himself some 3,000, it appeared that Napoleon had won a marginal victory, but it was not the devastating result that Napoleon had been hoping for. Blucher was still at large and at one point during the Battle the war had almost ended at a stroke, when Napoleon had almost been captured by the Cossacks, only being saved by the intervention of General Gourgaud. Nonetheless, on the other hand Napoleon had every reason to feel pleased with his raw conscripts, for though they lacked experience, they had fought with great spirit and had now been 'blooded'. Three days later, Blucher did indeed manage to join up with Schwarzenberg and his Austrian army at La-Rothière, five miles from Napoleon's victory at Brienne, bringing their joint forces to 116,000 men, and they immediately counter attacked Napoleon's mere 40,000 men at the Battle of La-Rothière, forcing Napoleon to fight in the teeth of a snowstorm for he had been intending to withdraw in the face of such superior odds opposing him. The French line sagged as the allied columns slammed into them, but Napoleon's forces stubbornly held their ground and only nightfall brought relief to his beleaguered troops as he skillfully extricated his forces, aided by both the thick snowfall and the gathering gloom. Both sides had lost around 6,000 men, but Napoleon could not afford such losses, while the allies could absorb theirs. With the Union of Blucher and Schwarzenberg, Napoleon's forces were too weak to stop them, thus it was that Napoleon decided on a retreat, rather than face a resumption of battle the next day; first to Troyes and then onwards to Nogent, a distance of 60 miles. Napoleon's dissapointed troops to whom he had promised victory muttered bitterly, ''"When are we going to stop?" With the allies now marching rapidly upon Paris, crowing over their victory over Napoleon at La-Rothière, Napoleon in a bitter mood received a further blow on the night of 7-8th of February when a despatch informed him that Marshal Murat whom he had made King of Naples, had deserted his cause by signing a treaty with the allies. "I hope I live long enough to take my own and France's vengeance for such frightful ingratitude" he hissed in anger. It was a further blow to Napoleon too, for he had been hoping that his stepson, Prince Eugène, Viceroy of Italy would be able to cross from Italy and threaten the enemy's rear. Murats's treachery had put paid to that scheme. At around this time, Napoleon also received yet another peace offer from the allies based upon the frontiers of 1792, and again he scornfully dismissed the terms, saying "It is either the natural frontiers or nothing... I vow never to leave France weaker than I found her." Yet, dismayed by his reverse and Murat's treachery Napoleon now saw the end of the war in sight and wrote to his brother Joseph in Paris, " It is entirely possible that I shall make peace shortly." But then heartening news arrived from Marshal Marmont on the front line, sending Napoleon into an ecstasy of joy, for the despatch revealed that Blucher and Schwarzenberg in a foolish move which Napoleon knew well how to exploit, and perhaps believing that Napoleon's retreat of sixty miles had been a sign that French resistance had ceased, had parted company and were now marching upon separate paths upon the French capital. "Peace can wait!" ''Napoleon jubilantly declared to his generals, "I will beat Blucher tommorrow, and then I will beat him again the day after..."'' A Triple Defeat for Blucher The campaign had been a lackluster start for Napoleon and the allies were flushed from their success at La-Rothière causing their morale to soar while morale plummeted in Napoleon's ranks, leading thousands of conscripts to desert his eagles. But February would see a wild upward swing in Napoleon's fortunes and he would dazzle his enemies by his brilliance and see his generalship climb to new heights. Blucher, convinced that Napoleon's days were now numbered after after his repulse at La-Rothière had now become drunk on overconfidence and was exhorting his Army of Silesia to march rapidly onward to Paris, recklessly disregarding any likelihood of a possible counterattack. As a result, his various army corps had become strung out and dispersed. Schwarzenberg meanwhile, was advancing at a much more sedate pace for the cautious Austrian general was less than convinced that Napoleon was a spent force. He was displeased at Blucher's impetuous march on the French capital for he was worried about a vengeful Napoleon still roaming the countryside who might take advantage of the isolated armies. Another reason for his more leisurely advance was for political reasons; secretly he was less keen than the Prussians to see Napoleon's immediate downfall. Napoleon watching these developments from Troyes, now saw the telling counterstroke to regain the initiative developing before his very eyes. Paris was the key. If the capital fell, then so would he. With Blucher strung out in the pursuit of it's capture, he had become isolated from Schwarzenberg and thus vunerable. With his corps strung out, he could defeat them in detail. He surmised that after Blucher was finished he could then turn on Schwarzenberg and with a bit of luck, drive him back across the Rhine Napoleon's boast that he would "beat Blucher tommorrow, then the day after" had not been idle talk, for almost as good as his word, two days later on the 10th of February at a little past 10:00 am, Napoleon with 30,000 men fell upon the isolated Russian corps of General Olsufiev at Champaubert. With only 5,000 men and 24 guns, Olsufiev made a rash error when he decided to fight. Outnumbered 6 to 1 in Napoleon's favour, the outcome was predictable. The hapless, Olsufiev's corps was almost wiped out with only some 200 casulaties on the French side. Olsufiev himself suffered the humiliation of being captured by a nineteen year old conscript with only six months service. Only 1000 survivors managed to escape to tell of the disaster at the Battle of Champaubert. Napoleon now occupied the perfect 'Central Position' and was ideally placed to wreak havoc upon Blucher's separated corps, still strung out on thier rapid march on the capital. Blucher halted his columns of men, aghast at the news of the unfortunate Olsufiev's fate, and hastily issed orders to General Sacken and General Yorck chasing Marshal McDonald's corps of 7,000 men, but now isolated west of Napoleon at Champaubert, to make contact with one another and together move on Montmirail to attempt to blast their way through to re-establish communications with himself. The next morning, Blucher, fearful that Napoleon was even now plunging west to destroy him, withdrew a few miles east to await developments from Sacken and Yorck, but Napoleon had no intention of racing after Blucher, judging that the Prussian general would merely retire east to Chalons, whilst Sacken and Yorck would escape over the Marne to safety. To this end, Napoleon had already detached Marmont to watch Blucher and moving with his accustomed speed had marched overnight to occupy Montmirail itself. Even as Blucher was still worrying about the French Emperor falling upon him, Sacken, marching eastwards with 18,000 men to Montmirail came up against Napoleon's force in strength. Immediately, Sacken launched attack after attack through heavy rain showers in an effort to break through the French line to Montmirail and beyond. Napoleon, with just 10,500 men, held his ground to fight a defensive battle whilst detaching cavalry and infantry elements to watch the northern road for Yorck, who was expected to join up with Sacken. Indeed, by 2pm Yorck was approaching the battlefield, but cautiously. One hour later at 3pm, Marshal Mortier himself arrived with reinforcements, boosting Napoleon's force to almost 20,000 men. Wasting no time, Napoleon unleashed six battalions of the Old Guard led by Ney. Performing with their customary elan, the Guard smashed through Sacken's left flank, carrying all before them. By this time, Yorck had launched a limited counterattack of his own by committing 3,000 troops, but it was too little and far too late. Sacken, his line ruptured by the Guard, was on the point of collapse. Judging the moment ripe, Napoleon on horseback gave the signal and the French cavalry erupted all over the field. Sacken had had enough and the Russians began to withdraw. Yorck, seeing the battle lost, still fought on vainly to help cover Sacken's retreat, but as darkness fell and the atrocious weather closed in, the battle died down. For the second time in as many days, Napoleon had won himself a victory at the Battle of Montmirail, losing 2,000 casualties as opposed to almost 4,000 of the joint forces of Sacken and Yorck. Montmirail was a great victory for Napoleon, for not only was he facing the combined forces of two allied armies which potentially totalled at least 30,000 as opposed to his 20,000, but both amies contained seasoned fighting men and were led by two generals who were able and tough commanders. That Napoleon triumphed so convincingly was due to the fact that he had outgeneralled his opponents and enforced his will across the entire battlefield from the start. The very next day, Napoleon lauched a brilliantly conceived pursuit of the two allied armies streaming northwards. As the French cavalry closed on the Prussian rearguard near Chateau-Thierry they drove the allied cavalry fromn the field and broke the rearguard, capturing at least 3,000 prisoners as well as 30 guns and numerous wagons before the last remnants crossed the Marne and thus to safety. On the 13th of February, as Napoleon rested his weary men after their recent exertions, Blucher, having spent two indecisive days of uncertainty as to the current state of affairs, began again to advance, his old impatience coming once again to the fore. Expelling Marmont at Etoges, the Prussian General made camp at Champaubert that evening, intending to to march on Montmirail the next day. The next morning, Blucher's advance guard ran into a heavy wall of French Cavalry near Vauchamps. Ascertaining from a captured French prisoner that Napoleon himself was marching to destroy him and that both Sacken and Yorck had been defeated and were now across the Marne, Blucher knew he was in grave peril. Two stark choices remained for him: either fight or take flight. Certain of his own destruction if he lingered too long lest the French infantry catch him, Blucher immediately ordered a fighting withdrawal, but harried without mercy by the French cavalry, the Prussian columns hurridly retracing their steps were severely mauled, perhaps only escaping total destruction for the French proved unable to bring up their guns due to the muddy ground. Pursuing them as far as Etoges, Napoleon at last called off the pursuit, allowing Blucher's battered columns who had lost some 6,000 men during the Battle of Vauchamps, to retire eastwards to lick their wounds. In an astonishing 'Five Days of Victory' Napoleon had thrown aside Blucher's audacious thrust upon Paris by striking at the weakest point of his overextended forces with brilliant precision to steal the initiative and wipe away the shame of La-Rothière, sending French morale soaring. Allowing his opponents no time to recover from this psychological blow, Napoleon had then moved with lightning speed to deliver a crushing blow against first Sacken and Yorck, and then finally to a bewildered and overconfident Blucher himself, who had been sent reeling back under a sledgehammer blow. Had Napoleon been able to remain in the vicinity, it is entirely possible that Blucher's Army of Silesia might have been utterly destroyed, but Blucher was to be allowed to recover and the arrival of General Winzingerode with an army corps of 30,000 men would replenish his depleted ranks. Nonetheless, Napoleon had shown in five brief days that his military genius still shone undiminished, reminiscent of the days of his First Italian Campaign. Schwarzenberg is Repulsed Benefitting from Napoleon's absence in the southern theatre, Schwarzenberg had managed by the 15th of February to penetrate up to 60 miles in places, forcing a wedge between Marshal Oudinot and Marshal Victor. The two marshals, who between them commanded just 40,000 men, had been obliged to fall back to form a new defensive line behind the River Yerres, centring the forces on Guignes, only 18 miles from Paris, in the face of Schwarzenberg's 90,000 strong Army of Bohemia. What was most worrying for Napoleon's peace of mind, was the fact that the capture of Paris was now a distinct possibility, for Schwarzenberg had deployed some four corps along a 30 mile front, who were well placed to advance along roads that would converge on the capital to bring them together at it's gates as one fighting unit. And yet, Napoleon surmised that the very dispositions of The Army of Bohemia was also its weakness. If he could move swiftly enough, the various army corps could not possibly hope to link together in time to fight a decisive battle. Schwarzenberg hesitated. He was stricken with indecision for he had heard the news of Blucher's defeat and he wondered if it might be prudent to fall back also in line with his ally eastwards, for he now felt overextended and vunerable should Napoleon now switch the focus of his attack upon himself. Another factor which had caused Schwarzenberg to halt, was that the French peasantry, driven to act by allied looting and inspired by news of Napoleon's successes, were reacting against their 'liberators' "I may lose a battle, but I shall never lose a minute," Napoleon had once said, and now with time very much of the essence, Napoleon dashed southwards for a clash with Schwarzenberg, detaching Mortier to watch Sacken and Yorck, and Marmont to keep an eye on Blucher, as well as instructing McDonald to march south with all haste to Guignes. Ideally, Napoleon would have liked to attack his adversaries' rear, a favourite ploy of his, but shorn of Mortier and Marmont was forced to rejoin the main armies of Oudinot and Victor at Guignes together with his Guard, arriving at 3:00pm on the 16th. By this time, Napoleon had assembled some 60,000 men; Macdonald himself had completed an epic march of 47 miles in 36 hours by requisitioning country carts for his infantry. By the time Schwarzenberg had made up his mind after hearing that Napoleon had arrived in person, it was already to late, for on the morning of the 17th, Napoleon's forces, concentrating upon the single point of Nangis to ensure a breakthrough, flung themselves at the allied columns who recoiled in great disarray, surprised and caught of guard by the suddeness of the attack. Victor swung towards Mormant to catch General Pahlen's force of 4,300 cavalry; Gerard and Grouchy, virtualy wiping them out. General Wrede and his Bavarian's withdrew south of the Seine at Bray, pursued by Macdonald, whilst Wittgenstien near Provins, marched to cross the Seine at Pont-Sur-Seine with Oudinot at his heels. Napoleon now sent Victor to secure the bridge at Montereau, which spanned both the Seine and Yonne, hoping to trap Wurttemberg on the northern side of the Seine. It was not to be, for Victor bungled his orders, allowing Wurttemberg to withdraw unmolested to the Surville heights above Montereau where he hoped to provide a rearguard to enable his own men to retire in good order across the bridge and to give some cover to Bianchi who was heading from Fontainbleau to Troyes. Justifiably raging at Victor's idleness, Napoleon arrived in person to fight the hard fought Battle of Montereau on the 18th. Under Napoleon's watchful guidance, the French successfully stormed the heights by mid afternoon, upon which Wurttemberg ordered a withdrawal which quickly became a rout as Napoleon loosed a brillant cavalry charge over the Montereau bridge, capturing it intact. Personally leading his guns forward to direct their fire upon the retreating columns of the enemy, Napoleon himself came under counter fire, prompting the gunners to remonstrate for exposing himself too far forward''." Fear not, "'' Napoleon calmly replied,'' " The ball that is to kill me has not yet been cast."'' Napoleon had won yet another victory at Montereau, his fourth in nine days and the bridge at Montereau was now in French hands. Things had not gone so well in the east. Both of the bridges at Bray and Nogent had been destroyed by the enemy, who were now safely away over the south bank of the Seine. Then the weather suddenly worsened, falling well below freezing which allowed the Army of Bohemia to escape across country. Dissapointed, Napoleon, not for the first time cursed the weather and commented bitterly, ''"The foe has enjoyed a stroke of rare good fortune... The heavy frosts have permitted him to move over the fields - otherwise at least half his guns and transport would have been take''n. Schwarzenenberg had been roughly handled however and had suffered some 6,000 casualties on the 18th, to 2,500 of the French and so continued his withdrawal to Troyes, hoping to link up with Blucher Yet again, spurring the latest peace offers from the allies as inadequate, Napoleon raced after Schwarzenberg with 75,000 men in a vain attempt to catch him and bring him to a decisive battle, but was thwarted for the allied general now had at least two days head start. Linking up at Mery on the 21st with Blucher who had by now recovered from his reverses and had replenished his ranks with reinforcements, Schwarzenberg desired to continue the withdrawal to Bar-Sur-Aube, much to the disgust of Blucher who driven on by his hatred of the French Emperor, wanted to make a stand and fight the decisive battle that would decide the war. Schwarzenberg was also unsettled by reports coming in that Marshal Augereau was at last making a move on Geneva. Worried about Augereau severing his line of communications, Schwarzenberg had his way and the allied withdrawal recommenced, thwarting Napoleon again of a decisive action. Napoleon rode into Troyes on the 24th, to a great welcome by it's inhabitants. Despite his dissapointment, he had every reason to feel pleased for he had met and successfully fended off the thrusts of two allied armies with a force both inferior in numbers and quality. Unfortunately, instead of capitalising on his gains to secure a lasting peace worthy of himself and the French people, Napoleon, with an unshakeable self-belief that would ultimately prove fatal, began to think that he might be able to win the war after all. To this end, to the despair of all those closest to him, he was prepared to gamble everything. For the Emperor Napoleon it had to be all or nothing, and from this point, Napoleon had lost his last chance to maintain himself as ruler of France. The Final Phase At Bar-Sur-Aube on the 25th of February, the allied sovereigns and their generals, held a council of war to decide how best to carry the war to Napoleon. It was unaminously agreed that fighting so formidable an opponent as the French Emperor, they should fight a repetition of the Trachenberg Plan which had worked so well for themselves the year before. In this varient of the plan, the allies would seek to leapfrog their way to paris. If one army was threatened by Napoleon, it was ruled that they should withdraw. In turn, the other allied army free from interference, would them march rapidly upon the capital. When Napoleon in turn raced to parry this threat, they in turn would withdraw allow the former army to once again resume its forward march on Paris. When both armies were close enough to the French capital, they would unite to fight the decisive battle to end the war. It fell to Blucher to kick-start the game, and thus on the 24th of February, before even waiting for the council of war, the old warrior crossed the Seine at Anglure, preparing to thrust towards Paris. With a personal command of 53,000 men and the moral support of Winzingerode at Reims with 30,000 men and St-Priest at Vitry with another 16,000, he moved on Meaux, opposed only by Marmont and Mortier, who commanding only some 10,000 troops between them, skillfully drew back to Meaux itself. Even as Blucher lunged after them, he learnt that Napoleon was marching northwards to confront him and so noting that he now held the central position, he conceived a bold strategic initiative worthy of the French Emperor himself. Summoning Winzingerode to join him, he planned to defeat the two marshals and then joined by Winzingerode, boosting his force to at least 80,000 men, to face Napoleon himself with the advantage of numbers in his favour. Unfortunately for him, his sound plan miscarried when he was sharply repulsed on the River Ourcq by both Marmont and Mortier who had took refuge behind it and now commanded 16,000 men. With his original splendid concept in tatters, Blucher withdrew to mull over the situation and and then hearing that Napoleon was hot on his heels only twelve miles distant, in accordance with allied strategy he withdrew a further 10 miles east hoping to be met by the approaching Winzingerode and his 30, 000 men, but of that general there was still no sign. In fact, at that moment both Winzingerode and Bulow with about 45,000 men betwen them were besieging the French garrison town of Soissons on the River Aisne about 13 miles north of his position. With Napoleon gaining on him, Blucher was faced with a simple choice, to stand and fight or cross the river. In face of the situation, the Aisne began to look decidedly attractive... To be continued.... External links * Category:Battles of the War of the Sixth Coalition